IVF BLOG DAY 35 | EGG COLLECTION | UPDATE FROM THE EMBRYOLOGIST

The embryologist called this morning and it turns out there was a hidden egg. So we have 9 altogether! Apparently my eggs and my fiances sperm had a bit of a party in that dish last night because they all fertilized!

However 2 were abnormal so we now have 7 embryos. We're really happy as you can imagine. Now it's a waiting game to see how they progress. If all goes well transfer will be tomorrow as planned or Friday. How exciting!

Today I'm we're feeling: Over the moon!

Have you ever had your eggs collected? If so, how many did you get?

Jess. xx

IVF EGG COLLECTION UNDER GENERAL ANAESTHETIC

Yesterday I wrote about how many eggs we had collected (you can read that post here) and today I thought I would write a bit about my experience of having the egg collection itself. So we got to the hospital at 8am and were greeted by all the lovely NHS staff members and then shown to my bed. 

I was asked to put on a hospital gown and my slippers and dressing gown that I had packed myself. I got out all my magazines as we didn't know what time our egg collection would be. Soon after that we were informed that we had been moved to second on the list. I think that was because I get sick when having general anaesthesia. 

Doctors always make sure that they give me anti-sickness medication which does the trick. However, they don't know if it will work so I expect they thought they would get me in sooner rather than later. That way if I am sick I've got more time in the day to recover and hopefully go home.

Throughout our time in hospital we were continuously asked the same questions over and over again. This is so that no mistakes are made (e.g. a mix up of eggs or sperm - can you imagine?!!!). I joked with my fiance and said 'imagine if we have a baby and it has the man opposites face'. But it's no laughing matter really because apparently these things do happen! Anyway, I digress!....

About 9am my fiance was called to give his sperm sample. Then not long after he got back (probably about 9.30) it was time for me to have my eggs collected. The whole procedure was straight forward and couldn't have gone better. They gave me the anaesthetic and the next thing I knew I had woken up and was wheeled back to my space on the ward. 

I was really glad to see my fiance and that it was finally all over. Like I said, it couldn't have gone any better but I was a little nervous before I went in. Following the procedure a nurse came to see me and asked if I was in any pain. I was in a little bit of pain and she told me I could have some morphine if I wanted. We agreed to wait 15 mins to see how I felt. 

The one thing I noticed was that my arms and legs were shaking pretty badly and I was sweating a little so didn't feel the best. It turns out this was just hypoglycemia as once I was given a couple of slices of toast I felt pretty good. That's typical of me as hypoglycemia is something I suffer with every day.

It's now been about 36 hours since egg collection and I'm pleased to say that I haven't taken any pain killers at all. Not even paracetamol! The pain just hasn't been bad enough. I can barely feel it at all. I've had a little bit of blood spotting but other than that I'm feeling pretty good! Better than I have over the past month I would say.

Jess. xx

IVF BLOG DAY 34 | EGG COLLECTION

Some of you might remember that when we had our final progress assessment we only had 5 follicles that were a good size, 2 that were somewhere behind and 9 that were so small I'm sure the consultant was hinting that they probably wouldn't grow. So in my head I thought we would probably have 7 follicles today if we were lucky. And if we were really lucky maybe 6 of those would have eggs in. Although I would have been happy to have had 5, maybe even 4.

About 30 mins before egg collection today I said so my fiance 'please prepare yourself that we may only get about 2 eggs'. He 'said why are you being so negative?'. I said 'I'm not being negative, I'm being realistic'. I assured him that I felt okay. I just didn't want to have unrealistic expectations. Well, it just goes to show what I know because on the IVF journey anything can happen and guess what? We got 8 eggs!

8 EGGS!!!!

I'm so happy. When the embryologist told us I shed 1 small tear of joy! (I wonder if she noticed? My fiance said he saw! Lol). I couldn't help but wonder where all the eggs came from? Apparently some of the follicles that I had somehow convinced myself wouldn't grow, did. I don't know who's watching over us (maybe my nan - remember she passed away 2 weeks ago and her funeral was yesterday?!). Anyway, whoever or whatever it is, from a science or spiritual point of view I'm so grateful. So blessed. 

It feels like we have a pretty good chance. Of course anything could go wrong at any stage, but as far as I'm concerned, so far so good.

Anyway that's all for this post, but I'll blog about the trigger injection and egg collection later. 

Today I'm feeling: The best I have all month! So happy. So alert. So positive. I feel like I've got baby dust sprinkled all over me! 

Jess. xx

IVF BLOG DAY 23 | GONAL-F INJECTION #2 & BUSERELIN INJECTION #23

Good morning! Today's injections went well. There was no leakage like yesterday. My fiance changed his technique slightly and made sure he let go of the skin once the needle was in. That seemed to make a big difference.

There's no doubt that the Gonal-F is working as I started getting period-like pains about 5 hours after the first injection. I'm getting them again today too. Yesterday I felt so tired that I had to go to bed for 2 hours at about 1.30 in the afternoon! It's currently 10.30am and I had my injections at about 8am. Again, I can feel myself getting really tired. My eyes always seem to feel stingy from tiredness too. 

I've been working in the evening more these days as I seem to perk up a bit around 5pm. It's a good job that I work from home! Last night I didn't finish until midnight. My sleep patterns are a bit messed up now. I think I went to bed at 2am. 

Today I'm feeling: Tired and I have mild pains. I think this is a good sign that my body is making those eggs! Yay. : ) Let's stay positive on what can be an incredibly difficult journey! 

Jess xx